Tales of Madness from the Periodic Table of the Elements

What roles have carbon, silicon, neon, gold and other elements played in human history? We’ll explore these and other tales this hour with science writer Sam Kean, whose new book is “The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements” (Little, Brown and Company, 2010).